DARK HISTORY: WEST VIRGINIANS RECEIVED GRISLY LOBOTOMIES - Procedure Used At Spencer State Hospital, Disturbed Veterans Targeted

(12/28/2025)

By Bob Weaver Lobotomies were done on thousands of Americans and a large number of West Virginians who were deemed mentally ill, never widely known at the time. Many were done at Spencer State Hospital in Spencer. The Wall Street Journal unearthed some musty military files to report that the U.S. government lobotomized roughly 2,000 mentally ill veterans and likely hundreds more during and after World War II. Besieged by psychologically damaged troops returning from the battlefields of North Africa, Europe and the Pacific, the Veterans Administration performed the brain-altering operation on former servicemen it diagnosed as depressives, psychotics and schizophrenics, and occasionally on people identified as homosexuals, according to the report, says the WSJ. See Wall Street Journal story Report: VA lobotomized 2,000 disturbed veterans See also 'ICE-PICK' LOBOTOMIES GIVEN AT SPENCER STATE HOSPITAL - "It Was A Real Grisly Thing," Said Doctor SUNNY CAL JOURNAL - Uncle Harrison's Lobotomy WV LAST STATE TO ALLOW INVOLUNTARY STERILIZATION - Officials Say Practice Not Used Since 1950s, Hundreds Of Mental Patients Received Lobotomies SUNNY CAL JOURNAL - Spencer Asylum Has Tortured History

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